Two things:
1. Some people including some credible economists are rather worried about a dollar collapse and possible hyperinflation. Particularly among those who view inflation/deflation as mainly an effect of the overall money supply. The money supply has expanded dramatically in the past 10 years, especially since the Fed stopped directly reporting M3. Many of the measures taken by the Fed in the past 2 years to stabilize the financial system amount to increasing the money supply exponentially.
2. Given the revolving door between especially Goldman Sachs and Citicorp and the Federal Government I wouldn't be surprised if they had access to intel most other companies don't. Even without the connection, the government has in effect signaled that protecting the big financial players is a matter of national security.

That really sucks. I think you did the right thing in posting though.

I hope your wife is OK and I hope she (and you too!) get the help you guys need.

Anything not FNC is the left.

That is bullshit and you know it.

Pacifica is about the closest thing, but it is hardly a mainstream source.

16 months is a lifetime in politics. For an example look no further than August 2007, the presidential campaign looked much different then than it did in November 2008.

The next election is a long ways off it's hard to say exactly how that will pan out in the last half of 2010. Without someone like Newt and the others involved in the 1994 takeover gaining more than a handful of seats is unlikely. Even if the GOP did win as many as they did in 1994 that isn't enough to get control of the House. The Senate looks even worse for the GOP, at this point it appears the Democrats are likely to gain at least a couple of seats.

I wouldn't say CNN espouses a "left-wing" view on anything really. Mostly the various mainstream news outlets have have a moneyed DC and NY cocktail party circuit view on things. It really isn't a "left" view other than maybe on some social/cultural issues.

Unfortunately there really is no equivalent of FNC for the left.

I can attest to people not taking the thing from the organic and artisanal bakeries at the food bank. All of that nice expensive bread ends up getting thrown out and they have to limit the number of loaves of cheap white bread and packs of hotdog and hamburger buns people take. Even the people at the food bank were kind of amazed when I told them all of the things you could do with the artisanal breads like make croutons, bread crumbs, bread pudding, or stuffing with them.

The food bank here lets people choose a number of items from various groupings and the bulk stuff like dried beans or even brown rice ends up with few takers. Cans of chili go fast though.

A lot of poor people just don't know how to cook I think. I need to go back to the local food bank and see if maybe they want some help coming up with recipes and tips for using various food items that aren't popular with their clientele.

Not to mention that as far as I know you can't pay for McDonald's with food stamps.

Unfortunately I suspect many on food stamps either don't know how to cook or don't know how to cook with limited time. You typically see a lot of convenience food in the carts of people paying with EBT cards.

I know the Community Colleges around here don't require anything. Not sure about the UW, but I know they offer low-cost insurance to students using the campus health center and university owned medical center.

Actually I've been kind of surprised by who has supported the idea of single payer, universal coverage, or a robust public option financed with some form of payroll tax.

On the other hand I've been rather surprised by who has caved and claimed we can't do anything but give the insurance companies and big pharma exactly what they want.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

If GM and Chrysler had been told to piss up a rope the fallout would likely have completely disrupted the entire global supply chain for car makers, heavy truck makers, and even heavy equipment makers. Shutting that entire sector of the economy down would have spilled over into the companies who make basic materials like steel, aluminum, glass, rubber, etc. Also into things like electronics (the auto industry is the largest customer for electronic components). Personally I'd rather have a sort of sick US auto industry than a global economic collapse.

Same thing applies to the monetary policy, if anything the danger is in not letting the "unconventional" measures run their course and trying to battle inflation and deficits way too soon.

Again if no corrective action to the financial sector had been applied and no stimulative measures taken I suspect the shape of the global recession would have been much worse.

If you think Obama's got problems because "we need to blame someone" just think of how much worse it would be if global GDP was falling twice as fast and twice as many people were out of work.

BTW I seriously doubt there will be any challenge from Hillary in 2012. She would run if Obama decides not to seek a second term, but I think that is unlikely as well. I do think Obama will be challenged by other Democrats in 2012 and some of those may be people you've heard of (current and former governors and senators). But the challengers won't be anyone in the current administration.

And that would be bad why? I only wish we had a system like Canada's.

Hell for that matter if I could just get the same coverage people over 65 get through Medicare I'd be happy. I'd even be willing to pay more taxes to cover the cost.

I think we'll get something for Health Reform and that something will be better than the mess we have now (but not as good as single payer would have been).

I'm not willing to count out a strong public option either. Some surprising voices have come out in favor of it including the rather powerful and normally conservative Senator Rockefeller.

Again even without a "public option" what the Senate Finance committee is currently proposing would be a major improvement on the current system.

As for the government being broke I call BS. The Federal government could return to fiscal health with two simple steps. First cut the defense budget in half. We'd still spend more than anyone else and more than the next 5 or so countries combined. That's $350 Billion a year right there. Second return tax rates on upper income individuals (say the top 25% or so) to what they were in the Clinton administration or even better to what they were when Reagan took office. Same thing with the estate tax and corporate tax rates.

Back to health care, a single payer system, universal care, or a public option could be financed with a payroll deduction. Make the tax rate somewhat progressive with an exemption for anyone in the bottom 30% or so of wage earners. Problem solved and I have no doubt it would be cheaper than what most companies are currently paying per employee for their group rates.

I wouldn't go that far, he is still insanely popular and the missteps so far are no worse than President Clinton's first 6 months in office (or Reagan's for that matter).

Furthermore unlike during the Carter Administration or the first two years of the Clinton Administration the Republican party has taken a detour into crazytown. There is no clear leadership, the party is eating its own by throwing anyone with broad electoral appeal under the bus, and the "leadership" voices you do hear sound like they escaped from a mental ward.

John Boehner is no Newt Gingrich and none of the potential 2012 GOP presidential nominees is Ronald Reagan much less either Bush.

Matthews is at best a useful idiot and at worst a tool (or the other way around if you prefer).

While conservatives hate him there is no great love for him on the left either. The defining moment for many of us was the creepy homoerotic narrative he gave when President Bush flew to the USS Lincoln to give the "Mission Accomplished" speech.

The best I can figure is he worships those in power and has some strange personal issues regarding authority figures and his own sexuality.